McDonald's moves into cafés in Japanese market

Some 1,190 Japanese customers queued in Tokyo for more than two hours last week to get into a new café-style eatery, serving sandwiches and croissants with vegetable soups from McDonald's.

The premises in the capital's Shibuya ward is one of 15 McCafés set to open in Japan - some of them within McDonald's traditional burger restaurants - serving breads, desserts and nine kinds of coffee. McCafé also offers 15 kinds of pastry priced at ¥100 (43p) and heats the bread for those eating in.Eiko Harada, CEO of McDonald's Holding Company (Japan), said he hoped the new stores would reach out to older customers as well as the chain's target clientele of families.McDonald's has 3,800 hamburger branches in Japan and is the leader in the Japanese foodservice industry. Its rivals are Starbucks and the Doutor Coffee Company.